Wing Zone Returning to Milwaukee
Fast-casual restaurant plans three new locations for Milwaukee area, with first to open in September.
Wing Zone wings and fries. Photo courtesy of Wing Zone.
Wing Zone, a fast-casual restaurant specializing in chicken wings, is poised to rejoin the local market with its first Milwaukee location since 2010.
The upcoming restaurant is planned for 138 E. Capitol Dr., near Outpost Natural Foods.
Franchisee Matt Schroeder said he aims to open the restaurant in mid-September, with another location in Wauwatosa to follow in October. Schroeder, who was previously a franchisee for a “major pizza chain,” said he plans to open at least three Wing Zone restaurants in the Milwaukee area in the coming years.
“I believe in the brand and the vision that they have, as far as the product that they offer, the convenience and the flavor,” Schroeder said of the Wing Zone brand, adding that he feels there’s a need for additional wing options in the Milwaukee marketplace.
Wing Zone sells original and boneless chicken wings, tenders and sandwiches, with sides including fried pickles, french fries and veggie sticks. Desserts such as funnel cake fries and cookies are also available.
The restaurant offers 18 sauce flavors including buffalo ranch, mango fire, thai chili and nuclear habanero.
The 1,400-square-foot restaurant — previously the site of a T-Mobile store — will mark the brand’s return to the city, following the closure of its sole Milwaukee location in 2010. The previous Wing Zone was open for approximately two years at 1683 N. Van Buren St.
Founded in 1993, Las Vegas-based Wing Zone operates more than 31 restaurants in North America and over 30 internationally. Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop acquired the Wing Zone brand in 2021. The following year, the company announced a series of franchise agreements that would expand the Wing Zone brand to Milwaukee, as well as more than 15 other cities across the United States.
The upcoming restaurants would grow the brand to approximately 200 locations by 2025 according to a July 2022 news release from the company.
“They have big growth plans,” Schroeder said. “They kind of put some meat behind the brand, simplified some things and helped improve the product a little bit…So I’m excited about it.”
The brand does not have additional growth plans in the Milwaukee market aside from Schroeder’s three restaurants, a Wing Zone representative confirmed. They are, however, open to adding more franchises for both the Wing Zone and Capriotti’s brand.
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